Strain Hunters Pack

* Strain Hunters Malawi Expedition -

Strain Hunters first mission, back in 2008, had a special destination as target: Malawi.
Malawi is a very special African country: it is one of the poorest and has one of the highest child and infant mortality rates, but it's also one of the most hospitable and less war-thorn states of the whole continent. It is scarcely populated, and just in the recent years it's starting to open to tourism. There are no guns around, except for those of soldiers and police (a rare case in this part of Africa), and most people are extremely friendly. Lake Malawi is the main attraction of the country and the third largest lake in Africa. Malawi is also the second largest producer of cannabis on the African continent, after South Africa. Last year Malawi produced just short of 12500 tons of cannabis (source: United Nations), most of which destined for export to other African countries or Europe.
The government of Malawi has far larger problems to address (malaria, a very poor health system and schooling system) and growers usually are far ahead of the game. Most of the cannabis is cultivated in the central and northern part of the country, in valleys and on hills deep in the forest, far away from any town or major road. Sometimes the only way to get there is on foot, after a long, long walk. Trees and the rugged terrain camouflage the fields, and it's impossible to get around without the help of the locals. Crops are planted in November and December, and harvested between April and May. After harvest the crops are dried on the spot and transported on foot or by mule to the collection points where the smugglers (usually foreigners from other African countries) organize the export with cars, buses, trucks, and sometimes even helicopters and small airplanes.
Arjan, Simon and myself did a scouting trip of about 3 weeks in February of 2008, when we had the chance to make contact with growers and see the plants already growing in the fields. Then we went back in April for the filming, with the camera crew.
Growing cannabis is not a very lucrative business for the people of Malawi; it is just survival. The international smugglers make most of the profits, while the farmers from Malawi just get enough money to provide food and schooling for their families and extended families. Usually more than one family, sometimes an entire village, attends a large production field. And the profits are shared between all the people involved, paying for food, and bricks for houses and school fees for children. Travelling through Malawi it's easy to understand that cannabis is the only crop that can have a positive impact on the rural poor communities, the same communities that are not benefiting from government or international help programs. Cannabis is doing for the poor people of Malawi what the government is not doing: helping. After traveling around the producing areas, guided by solid local contacts, we figured that cannabis arrived in Malawi from different sources, during a period lasting for a few centuries, over 1500 years ago. The first seeds came with Congolese tribes moving south, and then with Arab merchants trading from Asia into Africa. Today all over Malawi there are very different phenotypes of the same sativa landrace that the world knows as Malawi Gold or Malawi Black. The names were given in the 1970s and came with the different ways of fermenting and transporting the weed. The buds that are fermented and wrapped in corn leaves for transport take a very dark, almost black in colour (hence the name Malawi Black), while the non-fermented buds are brownish, almost golden. Another reason for the name Malawi Gold is the fact that it's pretty much the only crop worth decent money to the local farmers.
Malawi growers usually plant vast fields starting from seeds and do not pull the males from their crops, so the weed they harvest is full of seeds as well. On one hand this allows them to have a good stock for the next season; on the other hand seeds are the heaviest part of the cannabis plant, so they guarantee better income (seedless weed has pretty much the same price as seeded weed on the local wholesale market for export). We were able to retrieve seeds from several different areas, representing one single landrace with several phenos, all of them well inbred for a long period of time in the same area. In Malawi, seeds are often planted in clusters of 30-40 seedlings in the same place, and then the strongest 2-3 plants of the group will overgrow the rest, which will be cleared. Most fields are very isolated and very far from other fields, so the different phenotypes keep inbreeding with themselves, uncontaminated and unaltered by other genetics.
Some growers are starting to realize that there is a fast-growing local demand that is directly linked to tourism. Some are starting to sell the products of their work to tourists coming to the resorts scattered on the lake's shores, in the southern part of the country. Because of the contact with the tourists, the growers also begin to realize that seedless weed can have a much higher value for smokers, and when they plant their next crop they try to identify and pull the male plants from the most part of their fields (some males will always be left on purpose, to pollinate for making seed-stock for the following season).
Malawi cannabis is tall, with the typical almost-pure-sativa look. The different phenotypes we encountered in our travels were ranging from very woody and earthy in flavour to fruity and sweet (pineapple and mango the most dominant smells on the fruity phenos). Some fruity phenos have a more branchy structure, while the more woody ones present a really tall and stretchy attitude, with little branching. Most fields I have seen were fertilized by burning old trees and scattering the ashes. Some fields had planting techniques borrowed from other cultures such as cassava and corn.
The Malawi Gold high is incredibly clear, intense, long lasting, and very complex. During most of the making of the documentary I was almost energized by the local weed, sometimes to the point of needing less food than normal.
The more fermented Malawi Black (also known as "the cob") has a very earthy, almost mouldy taste, and a much more stoned and body-like effect. At times it was perfect to balance the extreme high of the non-fermented batches. I used to smoke the fermented batches mostly in the evenings, when the day was over, to help me sleep. And the next morning I would have a breakfast joint of the high energizing batch to get me going. A very effective all-Malawi therapy.
Malawi is not only one of the most beautiful countries I visited in my life; it is also one of the most cannabis friendly. Weed is illegal, and penalties are actually quite harsh on the paper; but in practice the land is so vast, and the road checks so easy to bypass, that it is a smoker's paradise. For how long it will stay like this, depends on tourism development and politics. I can only hope it will not change too much or too fast.

We are now busy producing the original Malawi Gold after years of selection, and we will release it in regular form sometimes in 2012, together with other landraces from our travels.

* Strain Hunters India Expedition -

Strain Hunters are people that can't sit still for too long. After completing the Malawi expedition in 2008, Arjan and myself began to think about the next mission. We had many destinations in mind, because the list of places where amazing landraces are awaiting is a long one. After much thinking and talking we selected a few "top-spots" on our list, and started gathering information and ideas.

* Strain Hunters Jamaica Expedition -

Here we go again! We board a flight from Amsterdam and in 9 hours we are in the Caribbean. After a layover of just a couple of hours on Curacao, we fly on to Jamaica. We land in Kingston around 11 am local time. The air is hot, but not too humid.
We have a 3 hours layover, so we decide to get out of the airport and go have lunch in Port Royal, half an hour away on the coast. It's a bit of a ghost-town, once a very rich merchant harbor, destroyed at the end of the seventeenth century by a powerful earthquake. It looks like it never really recovered…
We eat lunch in a small fish-restaurant, famous for its snapper. But I eat jerk chicken because I am picky with my fish, and the jerk-spices here are amazing!
Of course we drink some Red Stripe beers, and Simon and myself decide it's time to find some weed. It does not take long before we hit the jackpot: literally on the side of the local Police station, along the seaside, there are some barracks and shacks; inside a group of Rastas is busy cleaning and chopping weed and rolling it up in small balls, using rolling papers as containers.
We ask if we can buy some, and the guys are thrilled. It's cheap, less than 1 Euro per gram. But it's a bit bitter, very leafy, and we enjoy it just because it's been a while since we smoked in Amsterdam! Some of the Rastas in the back are smoking crack cocaine in a glass pipe, the smell is terribly sour. They ask if we like some, and we politely tell them we are just here for the ganja; they nod, and scream "Jah Rastafari"!
We sit and smoke a joint with them, and chat a bit about the local weed, and the cops. It's incredible that this is all happening next to the Police station.
We leave as soon as the joint is over, and we go back to the restaurant to join the rest of the crew.
It's time to get back to the airport and catch a Jamaican Airlines flight to Montego Bay, where our local contacts are waiting. The flight is really short, under half hour, and we arrive in MoBay before sunset. Bigga, Shanti, Nampo and Taleban are waiting for us and it's great to see them again; Arjan and myself spent some crazy days with these guys not long ago, during our scouting trips on the island.
These guys are a tight crew, and they are going to take care of us during the next days of this filming trip.
Nampo is a older Rasta, wise man, with lots of contacts and very respected.
Taleban, his friend, is a grower and a smuggler, a real pirate and one of the funniest guys we ever had with us during our expeditions.
Bigga is our driver/bodyguard, he's a man of the road and he knows who and what you need to know to keep us safe.
Shanti is a local singer, a reggae artist with an amazing talent and a great personality. I know him since he was 10 years old, back in 1994, when I spent a few weeks near where he lived with his father (the man supplying me with fine herb at the time). It was really special to find Shanti during our scouting trips back in July, he's now a grown up man… and I am getting old! Shanti will come along and make sure the soundtrack of our travels is inspiring and inspired.
We get the cars, two Toyota Fortuner, and we load up the mountain of gear we are carrying. Then we drive down to Negril in the sunset light, and when we arrive it's already dark. We decide to spend the first night at the Blue Cave Castle, a really cozy place on the rocky cliffs of Negril.
It's another true 1994-flashback for me, this is one of the places where I stayed when I was a 20-years-old ganja-traveler, already a Strain Hunter without knowing it…. Of course to make the flashback even more intense the same room where I slept then is available, so I take it.
It still looks the same.
We are tired from the long travel, and we decide to go for some food. Unfortunately the chef is sick, so we decide to find something not too far away. We hit a jerk-chicken stand by the side of the road and we eat like there's no tomorrow.
After a few Red Stripes and a few joints we go back to the hotel, where we smoke some good amount of high-grade weed, and some "gum", the local finger-hash.
The weed is definitely an indica-cross, it tastes sweet and strong, and they say it's from a site not too far from where we are. We make a plan for tomorrow, and we go to sleep. Jamaica is great. It's a true privilege to be here again.
Jah Bless!
And now we are back with MisterX pics, the man is a true artist.....

* Strain Hunters Swaziland Expedition -

Swaziland is a small country landlocked between South Africa and Mozambique, with just over 1 million inhabitants. It is mostly known for its natural parks, where the amazing African flora and faunas are protected and visited by a large number of tourists each year. Swaziland is a very poor country, and it has the highest HIV/AIDS infection ratios on the planet (around 40% of the population is infected, according to data from the US government). It is also the last absolute monarchy in Southern Africa, and King Mswati III rules the country according to traditional tribal values, with a very dictatorial style. He has 14 wives, and every year chooses a new wife between thousands of "competing" virgins. This ceremony is internationally known as the Reed Dance and represents a major tourist attraction, albeit mounting criticism from the international community. Swaziland has a constitution but political parties are illegal, and the currency is directly linked to the South African Rand. Despite these not- so-democratic facts, the people of Swaziland are very friendly and extremely welcoming to foreigners, and the country enjoys a relatively crime-free status, with very little violence. Compared to neighboring South Africa and Mozambique it is a relatively safe country to travel to. Nevertheless a certain degree of organization and flexibility is mandatory, because the lack of infrastructure can be a real challenge.

Swaziland produces very large amounts of cannabis considering the limited geographical extension it occupies. According to the United Nations Drug Report of 2008, Swaziland is in the top-5 cannabis producing countries on the African continent. Virtually all of the cannabis production is exported across the porous border to South Africa or Mozambique, with a very small part left to satisfy the local demand. The people of Swaziland have the same type of relationship with cannabis that it is found in most of the poorest areas of the planet: it is the only crop able to create some income and to support local economical growth at tribal-family level. Most of the male population of the rural areas uses cannabis on a daily basis, for both recreational and medicinal purposes. The antiseptic properties of cannabis are extremely helpful to fight infections in rural areas....

* Strain Hunters Morocco Expedition -

The Strain Hunters are back! In 2008 we explored the jungles of Malawi to retrieve the genetics of the original Malawi Gold, in 2009 we climbed the steep valleys of Hymachal Pradesh, India, to document the production of the finest black hashish in the world. And in 2010 we decided to continue on our quest to find the best hashish and the landraces it comes from, this time in Morocco.
The large majority of the hashish produced worldwide (up to 70% of the total annual world production) comes from a relatively small mountain region in the North of Morocco, called Rif. In Dutch coffeeshops the sales of Moroccan hashish are one of the backbones of the industry, already since the 1970s. And from London to Rome to Madrid to Cape Town, Moroccan hashish is consumed daily by huge numbers of people. Moroccan hashish was first produced after Asian and Arab merchants introduced the cannabis plant to the region, between 1000 and 1200 years ago. But it wasn't until recently (1960s) that hashish production reached export-levels, becoming the number one commercial output in the region of the Rif, and representing a significant proportion of Morocco's GDP (unofficial sources estimate it at roughly 30%).
There are social and historical reasons to this: the Berbers, inhabitants of the Rif, always maintained their independence from the Arab dynasties ruling the Country. But they were crucial in fighting European clonial powers for the formation of modern Morocco. In exchange for the help offered fighting French and Spanish troops, king Mohammed V granted the Berbers freedom to administer their land. This freedom allowed them to rapidly convert the local agricultural production (olives, figs) into cannabis production, and to produce hashish. To this day, the document granting the Berbers freedom over the Rif region is exposed in the National Museum in Marrakech.
Since the independence of Morocco from colonial powers in the 1950s, hashish has become a very sought-after commodity, especially in Europe. This demand sprouced a rapid process of organization and restructuring of local society in function of hashish producrion on a large, almost industrial scale.
Considering this background, we devoted ourselves to collect information and connect with local contacts in the spring of 2010. Strain Hunters Morocco wasn't just an idea, It now was an ongoing project, and the continuation of a great adventure.
By March I managed to reconnect with an old friend, a European working in the Rif for over 10 years, actively involved in the production of hashish. He invited me to have a look around the farms where he was working, and I did not hesitate: in the following 3 months I visited him several times, alone or with Arjan, and soon after the first trip we both agreed this would be a great chance to document the production of Moroccan hashish, and to retrieve original Moroccan genetics as well. By June, we had prepared the logistics necessary to support 2 filming trips, to be realised in July and then in September. We decided to double-up on the filming trips because of the sheer amount of material to be covered, and because in Morocco the cannabis harvest spans over an unusually large number of months, from June all the way to October. This is due to the different cannabis genetics that are cultivated in the Rif: some valleys produce original Moroccan landraces, which are semi-autoflowering and are harvested in June-July; other valleys produce genetics imported from Pakistan or Afghanistan in the 1990s that are harvested later, in September or October (these strains produce larger harvests, more resin, and ultimately a higher quality and quantity of hashish).
During both filming trips we visited two very different valleys, to be able to document different landscapes, genetics and philosophies of production. First we approached the more organized, industrial-like farmers, growing Pakistani and Afghani genetics mixed with local landraces. Then we moved on to a more remokte area, where farmers are still producing local landraces.
During the first filming trip, in July, we had the chance to see the Pakistani and Afghani genetics in full growth, while the Moroccan landrace was already being harvested. When we came back in September we witnessed the finishing of flowering of the importad genetics, as well as the manufacturing process of hashish production.
In Morocco plants are harvested, then stored to dry, slowly, for up to 1 month. Once dry, the plants are beaten on top of a set of fine screens, using sticks, so that the resin glands detach and form a brown-yellowish powder. This is called "pollen", and once pressed into bricks it becomes hashish, ready for transport and export.
Moroccan hashish available around the world is of many qualities, all different mixtures of local landrace and imported genetics. When it is made from local landeaces the hashish is light brown or yellow in color, with a dry, sandy texture; the flavor tends to be sweet and flowery, very smooth; the effect is usually mild and body-like. When Hashish is made from Pakistani or Afghani genetics it gains a dark brown color, with red hues. The aroma and flavor are intense, sweet, pungent; and the effect is usually strong, long-lasting, and very stoned. Quality also determines market price, and during the last years there has been a steady increase in the market price for stronger, more aromatic hashish. Market factors like this one are pushing Moroccan farmers to cultivate imported genetics, tather than the local ones.
During our travels in Morocco, and particularly in the Rif region, we witnessed how the farming cycle linked to hashish production is integrant part of the rural lifestyle of the Berbers, and how it dictates the rhythm of life and the rhytm of work. In the Rif children are sent to school with money from the hashish trade, and most of the population directly or indirectly benefits from it. In Morocco hashish is not a drug in the hands of criminal cartels or organized crime, it is an agricultural product that drives the local economy at all levels. Maybe this is the reason why the Moroccan government struggles between the demands of the international community (to stop the hashish production and eradicate plantations) and the demands of its own people (whose lives depend mostly on the hashish trade). It is a very delicate political and social situation, and there is no easy solution in sight. The most likely outcome is that eradication programs, already in place and sponsored by international money, will continue. At the same time it is clear that the Moroccan government has no real intentions to stop the flow of hashish towards Europe and the rest of the world.
After completing our documentary, we realised once more that cannabis is a crop that helps the poorest people of the planet in their quest to survive and to improve their quality of life.

* Strain Hunters Trinidad & St. Vincent Expedition -

Day 1

It's hard to describe the feelings: another Strain Hunters adventure begins today, a very special one. For the first time, we are going live from the trip, directly on the forums.
I have been preparing this trip for months, but I still can't say I feel completely ready. There is always an element of uncertainty in the air, it's a tricky mission….

Arjan and myself have been waiting for Simon to arrive from Africa, and also for Mister-X, our new brave photographer that follow us for the first time, documenting the trip with lots of images.
After spending few hours at the office doing the final checks on the equipment and the luggage, we finally get a taxi and head to the airport. The sky is grey and low.

Few joints before checking in, then we catch a short flight to another European capital, to meet the three guys from our film-crew. The group is now 7 large. We are all very excited, and we spend the night in a hotel near the airport, eating, drinking, smoking and talking about the travels ahead.
There is a very charged atmosphere. The weed, brought to us by a local friend, burns sweet and musky. It's good Cheese.

We go to bed but we hardly can get some sleep.

Day 2

After a quick breakfast and a last joint we head back to the airport for the long flight to the Caribbean. We are fully loaded, carrying over 250 kg of luggage (personal effects, 2 video-cameras, a sound-bag, and lots of other equipment for photo and video), but we manage to move fast.
The check-in procedures are pretty slow, and we finally board the Boeing 777 at around 9 am local time.

The flight is very long. Flying during the day is really hard for a heavy-smoker… I can hardly sleep, so I spend time watching movies, and reading notes about the mission on my ipad.
After a time that feels eternal, we finally land on the Caribbean island that we selected for the beginning of our Strain Hunters expedition.

Our local contact, Dr. Green, is waiting for us outside the airport with 2 cars, and we immediately drive away. I drive one of the jeeps, a dark-red Land Rover, while Dr. Green drives the other one. As I start driving, I force myself to quickly get used to sticking on the left side of the road and to operating the gear with my left hand. This is the way on most caribbean islands, which are ex-English colonies. Time to get high on some really strong imported weed, after all that time spent in the airplane. It tastes sweet and fruity, it reminds me of Bubba Kush; after a few minutes I am totally stoned, and loving it. To be able to smoke this kind of imported grade is very rare on this island, possible only for few connected people.
We drive through crazy traffic, until we reach the capital city. It's now dark, after a tropical sunset that colored the sky of purple and pink.

Dr. Green takes us to his restaurant, called Wicked Wings. It's a special fried-chicken outlet, serving over 48 different sauces! We are really hungry, so after filming a short interview and an arrival-scene we dive into the dinner. The chicken is awesome, and the sauces very tasty (especially the Sweet Thai Chilly and the Mango). We are jet-lagged and tired, and we can't wait to get some rest. We still stop for a smoke at Dr. Green's home, then we drive to a hotel in a suburb, away from the tourist spots and from visibility. We hire the entire place, all the rooms, so we are sure to have some privacy. The only intruders now are the cockroaches. But they can keep our secrets…;-)
Tired, stoned and happy I finally take a shower and pass out. Tomorrow is gonna be a long day, and we have a very exciting program!

PS: I am not telling you where we are for security reasons, and also because you will have to guess it at the end of this adventure. This live-thread is a great opportunity to win great prizes, so try to get clues from our pics and our stories, and be ready to answer a few tricky questions when we get back to Amsterdam!

* Kings of Cannabis -

You might not know who Arjan Roskam is, but you've probably smoked his weed. Arjan's been breeding some of the most famous marijuana strains in the world—like White Widow, Super Silver Haze, and many others—for over 20 years.

In 1992 he opened his first coffee shop in Amsterdam and has since crafted his marijuana-breeding skills into a market-savvy empire known as Green House Seed Company, which rakes in millions of dollars a year.

He's won 38 Cannabis Cups and has dubbed himself the King of Cannabis.

VICE joins Arjan and his crew of strain hunters in Colombia to look for three of the country's rarest types of weed, strains that have remained genetically pure for decades. In grower's terms, these are called landraces. We trudge up mountains and crisscross military checkpoints in the country's still-violent south, and then head north to the breathtaking Caribbean coast. As the dominoes of criminalization fall throughout the world, Arjan is positioned to be at the forefront of the legitimate international seed trade.